One third of government jobs will go to Saudi women and additional job opportunities will also be created for them, according to Crown Prince Sultan.

The Kingdom’s Eighth Five-Year Development Plan aims at increasing the percentage of women in the Saudi work force from 5.4 per cent to 14.2 per cent. The plan calls for increasing the participation of Saudi women, enlarging and strengthening the role of the family in society while preserving its Islamic and Arab values by developing the capabilities of women and removing the obstacles hindering their participation in the nation's development and economic activities.

The plan envisages greater participation of women in economic and developmental activities by implementing programmes to improve their capabilities and removing obstacles that stand in the way of their wider participation. Manpower development is the main focus of plan as it includes programmes for the development of general education, training and skills and expansion of applied sciences and technology, he added.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz gives top priority to Saudi women’s empowerment in accordance with Islamic rulings. This is clearly reflected in his speeches and dialogues wherein he always stresses the important role women can play in the nation's progress and development.

King Abdullah is always of the opinion that issues concerning women need to be carefully examined in order to give them all their rights defined in the Holy Quran and Holy Prophet's Sunnah.

He is keen to remove obstacles facing Saudi women. Prince Sultan also underlined the Kingdom’s requirement of skilled and experienced foreign labour to carry out various development projects.